


open up my eyes (tell me i'm alive)

by lightningb0nes



Series: corruption au [2]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Corruption, Gen, Mentions of Death, mentions of bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-11-02 03:41:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10936254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightningb0nes/pseuds/lightningb0nes
Summary: A century passes between the corruption of the Champions, and their successors grow in the shadow of their destinies.[or, the one about the second gen champions dealing with the corruption of their predecessors]





	open up my eyes (tell me i'm alive)

His whole life, people have told Sidon to stay away from the Divine Beast Vah Ruta. They tell him stories of the scourge that lies within, of the monster he must stay away from at all costs. They call the monster his sister’s name, and he  _ hates  _ it with every bone in his body, his sister was brave, a hero, someone who should have a statue in the town square. She was a  _ Champion _ , not just in title, but in character, and the way the elders say her name as if it’s a curse makes him want to scream. 

So he trains and dreams of going, of rescuing his sister from the scourge and restoring her honor. He’s good with a spear, better with a trident, and he’s the first person his age to risk the dive off of Shatterback Point. That’s the closest he ever gets to the Divine Beast, making the dive into the reservoir, and he sees the red malice that seeps through the chinks in the beast’s armor. He  _ sees _ her, or what’s left of her, the malice eating away at his sister like a virus, her silver jewelry and the remains of the Lightscale Trident the only things giving her away from this distance, and he wants to  _ howl _ , wants to go and tear the blight away from his sister, but a guard comes after him before he can reach her. 

The resulting fight with his father ends with Sidon not leaving his quarters for two weeks. 

As the anniversary of his sister’s fall to the Divine Beast draws near, tensions only grow- it’s been a century, and Vah Ruta is rising once more, the scourge rising with it. The rains begin once more, a torrent of proportions that haven’t been seen in near a century. 

It’s with a heavy burden in his heart that Sidon sets out on his search for a Hylian, against Muzu and his father’s wishes-  _ it was a Hylian who got your sister involved in this disaster _ , Muzu tells him, flinging a hand to the armor that still rests in the chest, armor made with his sister’s scale, armor made for a Hylian. 

“If it was a Hylian who got her there,” Sidon says, raising himself up to his full height, “I trust a Hylian can help her get out. Good _ bye _ , Father, Muzu,” he says, and with that, he leaves, trident in one hand and shock-proof elixir in the other, head held high. 

The raging on Waterblight Mipha echo around the Zora’s domain behind him as he sets out, rain cascading down around him and determination fierce in his eyes. 

**oOo**

The death of Makeela’s mother is the beginning of the end; and Chieftess Riju’s funereal marks the start of her daughter’s reign, so Makeela leaves the safety and comfort of her room and her sand-seal plushies and takes her place on the throne of the Gerudo Chieftess. She is no longer Makeela, she is Chieftess Riju, and she holds her head high the best she can, Buliara by her side. She keeps a wary eye on the slumbering Divine Beast in the desert, cautious of every sandstorm that stirs to the southeast. Her mother told her the stories of the horrors that Vah Naboris brought upon her ancestors almost a century ago, and that fear still courses through Makeela’s veins to this very day. 

When her Thunder Helm gets stolen, whispers that it is an omen fill the streets, even as the guards plan to steal it back. Barta goes missing shortly after, and it’s all Makeela can do to keep leading, to not curl up and cry from the sheer pressure of it all. 

When the Divine Beast Vah Naboris rises once more, Makeela grits her teeth and straightens her spine, mounting Patricia with determination in her eyes and her scimitar at her side. She fails miserably at calming the beast, but she catches a glimpse of the scourge inside of it. 

Red hair, the remains of Gerudo armor, and a shield that should sit at  _ her  _ side as an heirloom of her people, it is easy to see where Thunderblight Urbosa got it’s name; whatever it is, it was clearly once Lady Urbosa. The eye that isn’t concealed gleams the same green as Makeela’s own, it’s pupil split and scattered. 

Makeela locks herself in her room for hours upon her return, allowing no entrance, not even Buliara. Fear wracks her body, and she curls up on the floor and  _ sobs.  _ Makeela saw herself in the scourge, saw the remains of a Chieftess, and it terrified her, right to her very core. 

Three days later, she returns to the throne room, head held high, makeup and hair done as perfectly as she can manage on her own. She calls her closest advisors to a meeting- Bularia and Teake gathering before her. 

“I am Chieftess Riju,” she says, and for the first time, it does not sound like her mother’s name. “I am the leader of the Gerudo people, and I will not fall to the Yiga Clan, and I will not let the Thunderblight diminish the name of my ancestor Lady Urbosa any longer,” she continues, and Bularia and Teake smile back at her. 

Thunderblight Urbosa shakes her desert, but Riju’s feet are firm on their ground; and with a scimitar in one hand, she begins to plan the defeat of the Yiga Clan. 

**oOo**

Yunobo is not a brave Goron. He has never been particularly brave, jumping at the bubbling lava and at the skittering of lizards underfoot. His mother wraps him in the scarf of his grandfather, Lord Daruk, the Champion of the Goron, and she tells him that he’s destined for great things, but Yunobo never _ feels  _ great. Vah Rudania looms like a bad omen overhead, and even though it’s asleep, he still fears it. 

His mother tries her hardest to protect him from the words of the others, but she can’t always be there, and the words sting. The others tell him his grandfather is no hero, no legend, that his grandfather left them for Ganon, turned Rudania against them. The other Gorons poke and prod at him throughout his childhood, everyone but his mother and the Boss lashing out with cruel words about his Grandfather. 

He’s barely an adult when his mother dies, and less than a month later, he’s cornered on a cliff by the hot springs. The other Goron is bigger than him, nastier than him, and all he wants is for his mother, Boss,  _ anyone  _ to come and save him. By the look of panic on the other boy’s face when Yunobo loses his footing, he never wanted it to come this far, but he doesn’t reach out as Yunobo falls. 

He shuts his eyes and screams, but when he hits the rocks below, he doesn’t die- he  _ bounces _ . When he pries his eyes open, the bright red shield around him is dying, but he knows what this is. It’s his ancestor’s gift, Daruk’s protection, saving him from a near certain death; and Yunobo can’t help but cry from the relief.    


Boss tells him it’s a gift he should be thankful for, regardless of the scourge, and Yunobo agrees wholeheartedly. He gets better at it over the years, summoning it on command rather than out of sheer panic, and it’s  _ nice _ . It’s a confirmation that Daruk’s power didn’t die with him, that the scourge of Vah Rudania isn’t the only thing his people have left of his grandfather to hold on to. 

It’s nice until Vah Rudania shudders to life, just shy of a century since it began it’s slumber, and Death Mountain wakes with it. They abandon the northern mines, and the dislike for Yunobo comes back in full force. He spends his nights watching Rudania, watching the scourge the best he can from Goron City, and his fingers brush the scarf he wears around his neck as he thinks of how much Daruk must be suffering, alone with the malice. 

Yunobo has never been a brave Goron, but as he stares up at Vah Rudania, alight against the night sky, he decides that maybe that has to change. 

**oOo**

Over the years, the legend of the great Champion of the Rito, Revali, gets handed down from mother to child, and all have held him in awe over the almost-century since his fall. Teba, when he is eight years old, decides that he doesn’t care much for heroism. All the stories come with tales of how great he was, but how great can someone who became a terror to his own people be?

Teba decides at a very young age that should the creature known as Windblight Revali ever show it’s face again, he will be the one to conquer it. 

So he trains with his bow, and he becomes the best damn flier in the whole village, and people hate him a little for how he talks about Revali.  _ He was a hero _ , they say, and Teba grips his bow a little tighter and storms off, as he always does. 

The first person to ever agree with him is Kass, who plays soft and sweet music and makes everything seem a little brighter in the shadow of Vah Medoh. The second is Saki, who blushes easily but can wield a sword better than any Rito Teba’s ever seen. Kass tells the tale of the Champions through song, of their bitter defeat and their fall to the blights, with Teba and Saki listening intently, and they’re the best friends that Teba has ever had. He and Saki fall in love, quick like an arrow loosed from his bow, and they’re married in the spring.

They have their first child a year and a half after Kass leaves to travel the world, and they name him Tulin. There’s something inside of Teba that makes him want to put down his bow, to let the whole Vah Medoh thing go, to settle down with Saki and be  _ happy _ , and he’s on his way to inform the elder of such when it happens. 

Vah Medoh rises once again, and Teba sees the dark mass of Windblight Revali rise with it, tattered blue scarf whipping around it in the wind, the straggling remains of what used to be braided feathers matted with the malice. 

“You don’t have to,” Saki says, her voice dark as she reaches up to cup his face. 

“You know I do,” Teba replies, resting his forehead against hers. “I’ll come back to you safe, swear on the goddess,” he says, and Saki ruffles his feathers gently. 

“Give it hell, Teba,” she says gently, and with that, Teba takes up his bow and makes for Vah Medoh. 

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is part 2 of my corruption au, ft. the second gen champions, because i love them. 
> 
> once again, this was beta'd by the incomparable [@pinwhale](http://pinwhale.tumblr.com), and if you want to come yell about zelda with me, you can find me [@lightningb0nes](http://lightningb0nes.tumblr.com) on tumblr!


End file.
